


Backstreets and Backstories

by bookthief22



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Drug Runners, Gangs, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Past Drug Use, supportive friends, supportive paul
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:48:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25640881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookthief22/pseuds/bookthief22
Summary: Sally and Paul invite the crew for dinner but with Argus unable to take the group all the way to the apartment, the crew has to walk through the neighborhood where Percy grew up, creating some uncomfortable situations for Percy.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 153





	Backstreets and Backstories

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [In the Dark](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/729435) by imagination-running. 



> Hey y'all,  
> First of all, I've never been to Manhattan or New York for that matter. Another thing, I'm not trying to be offensive or play any of this lightly. I'm just putting things down on the page that pop into my mind and publishing them on an open server. If y'all have any recommendations you are welcome to comment. The accent mentioned it just sorta how I talk to people when I'm talking fast so it's not really meant to truly be specific to the New York City area.  
> This work is years old, like four or five years old. I found it in one of my old notebooks and figured someone may like it.  
> It's been inspired by In the Dark by imagination-running on fanfic.net (thx ImAPerson597 for finding that)

Sally decided that somehow having thirteen demigods in the house was a good thing, no matter the risks of death my monster or other fully random demigod things that tended to happen when demigods gathered together in the mortal world. Hazel put up wards on Sally and Paul’s apartment the week before when she had been in town clothes shopping with Annabeth, Piper, Reyna, Thalia, Clarisse, and Calypso. So, On Friday night, the demigods loaded into the van and had Argus drive to Percy’s house in order to be on time. 

Argus got an urgent call from Chiron part of the way through the drive. After promising they’d be fine, Argus let them out and the demigods started walking towards Sally’s apartment. 

This would have been alright, if they hadn’t had to pass through Percy’s old neighborhood. When Percy realized this, he turned and led the group into the Starbucks that was nearby. They pushed some tables together and sat down. 

“Why’d we stop Kelphead?” Thalia asked. She’d noticed Percy’s uneasy demeanor when they’d started walking through Manhattan. Percy’s face took on a hard glint, the only one they’d seen before battles or intense games of capture the flag. 

“Guys, before we enter the next neighborhood, I need to give out some rules to follow.”

“It’s not like we’re going into war Percy.” Jason joked.

“This isn’t funny Jason. I grew up here. I lived in that neighborhood before my mom and Paul got together. It’s not a pleasant place. There are gangs, drugs, and backdoor dealings. Alright?” Percy replies, looking each demigod in the eye.

“Girls will stay in the middle of the pack. Boys on the outside except for Clarisse and Leo. Your positions will be flipped. If you have a hood, keep it up. Keep together but let me lead the group. Jason, you’re half a step behind me and Frank, you’ll take up the back. No one talks or makes eye contact with anyone. If anyone approaches us, let me do the talkin’. ‘nother thin’. Don’ question anythin’ I may say or do while we’re ou’ there, alrigh’?” 

Leo giggled. “What’s with the accent man?” 

“Wha’? You ne’er hear a accen’ ‘fore ha’ ya?” Percy asked before clearing his throat and removing the natural accent that he tries so hard to hide. 

“In all seriousness, did you all understand that?”

“Yes Percy” or “Yeah” came from around the table.

“Good.” Then Percy looked at their clothing. 

“Take off the sweater vest Jason and put it in a bag.” Percy removed his jacket to reveal the neutral black shirt on underneath. 

“Put this on Piper and throw up the hood to try and hide your Aphrodite.” After one last look around the group, Percy nodded to himself. He stood and said, “Don’t forget the rules and just follow my lead.” The demigods headed back onto the streets. At the boarder street, Percy glanced at everyone once more. 

“Remember not to walk as through you’re in a hurry.” Then they were off into the South side Manhattan. 

The group was doing well three blocks in. There’d only been one giggling outburst that was quickly silenced by Percy’s glare. Although the group had been trying hard not to look too hard, they were all glancing around to see where Percy used to live. They mostly saw abandoned warehouses, people huddled in side streets or standing on certain street corners. There were run down apartment buildings and houses gone into disarray. Around halfway through their fourth block, a few guys popped out of a side street and stated to wolf-whistle at the group; then they saw Percy. 

“Yo! PJ!” Percy snapped his head to look at the duo, eyes widening slightly in recognition. 

“I don’t know who you’re talking about.” The guys looked real hard at Percy for a second. 

“No you’re PJ, Gabe’s kid. Word on the Street is you killed him and skipped town. That true?” Percy pulled out a three-inch steel knife and flipped it open.

“I said, I don’t know who you’re talking about so beat it.” He said, nudging the knife at the duo. 

“Hey, woah man. Never mind. You’re obviously not PJ. You don’t need to point that at us man. We’ll just be on our merry way.” Then the dup scrammed. 

Percy flipped the knife closed and put it away. “Percy-“ Jason started but was cut off.

“No talking Jason. I’ll explain later.” So, the group continued for a few more blocks before Percy saw Big D up ahead. Percy knew he couldn’t avoid him or warn the others since they were only half a block away and Big D had already spotted them. So, Percy walked up to Big D and shook his hand. 

“Hey Big D.” Recognition shown on Big D’s face and he signaled for his bodyguard to stand down. 

“PJ. It’s been a while. For a second there, we thought Uglio mighta killed ya only to hear it was him who went missin’. What’s up? Why ya back in the neighborhood?” He glanced at the group behind Percy. “You guys looking for jobs or somethin’?” Percy shook his head. 

“Nothin’ like that D. We’re just passing through to get to my mom’s new place.”

“Hey babe, why don’t you wait in the car for me.” Big D said to his newest eye candy. The body guard who looked scared out of his wits, rightfully so, and had barely enough muscle mass to even be considered ‘the muscle’ opened the door for her. There were two main ways that you became Big D’s body guard. You either needed something from him or owed him something that you needed ot pay off. By the looks of this guy, he was trying to pay something off. 

“Whatcha been up to PJ? Last time you were around you were needin’ some help getting’ cleaned up after Uglio messed you up and had been doing runs for me ever since. You were my best runner and partial customer. What happened kid?”

Percy’s eyes hardened. “Gabe left my mom afta takin’ e’rything so she went back to college an’ started over. I was shipped off to military school until I was kicked out for being ‘uncurable’ due to my medical conditions and personality. The res’ is mostly confidential, ya feel?” 

Big D’s eyes hardened at that. “You’re not gonna rat me out to the cops are ya PJ ‘cause ya still owe me some from when I saved your life out here. I helped you get your life more together. I didn’t have to do tha’.” 

Percy shrugged him off. “You think I would tell on the one person who cared for me all those years ago besides my mother? I haven’ forgotten Big D and I ne’er will. Besides, you’re not the only one who’d be arrested if you were and I don’ think my mom would handle that well.” 

Percy glanced around again, “Nope. If you’ll allow us to, we’ll just be on our way to mom’s. It’s not too far away.” Big D grinned at that.

“Only if you can prove you’re still my best runner.” Percy nodded in acceptance to the challenge. 

“You’ve got five minutes. Two packs of purple to apartment 3E on 20th and Yaeger. Go!” Percy took off down the ally. He hopped onto the chain-link fence with ease and got two packs of cocaine out of the box on the wall at the top. Then, he flipped and rolled to the ground before taking off running down the street on the other side of the fence. He took an immediate right and was gone from sight of the group of demigods and Big D. 

Big D talked with the group of demigods about ‘military school’ and other miscellaneous things. Four minutes and two second later, Percy turned the corner now wearing a dark grey jacket over his shirt and baggy sweatpants. 

“Name?” Big D questioned.

Percy gave him a cool, steel-eyed look, harder than most of the demigods had ever seen on him outside of life-threatening battles. “Ray, according to him but the pictures in the room had Nigel written on the back of them. Grey the last name. Two other guys in the apartment and a kid, probably about nine. She was in a back room, not overly malnourished or bruised.”

Big D grinned and grasped Percy’s shoulder. “Knew you wouldn’t have lost it despite the years kid.” He turned an assessing gaze over the group. “Best let you get back to Miss Sally shouldn’t I kid.” There was a glint in his eye and Percy and Big D seemed to have a whole conversation with that one look that the other demigods didn’t understand. 

“I’ll be around again soon Big D. I owe you one.” Percy replied and bumped knuckles with Big D. Percy glanced at ‘the muscle’. “Might wanna upgrade your security though. Doesn’t look like much from where I’m standing.” Percy gave Big D a smirk and Big D assessed him before nodding slightly. Message received. 

Percy turned back to the demigods who’d broken into looks and whispers but never took his eyes fully off Big D. “Best be going now. Mom will be wondering where we went.” 

Percy turned back to Big D one more time. “I’ll bring some blue cookies.” Then he started to walk away again, the other demigods were baffled by the entire exchange and the events of the past ten minutes.  
They scrambled to follow Percy, edging around Big D as he watched them like a hawk until they turned a corner up ahead. 

“Per-“ Jason didn’t even get his full name out before being pushed into a wall. 

“We” Percy sent a look at all the demigods, “will talk about this when we get into a place where the walls aren’t watching. It’s only another three blocks.” Percy released Jason and started walking again. As the demigods walked, they noticed the glances sent by others on the street to Percy, either in acknowledgment or fear. 

  


Sally opened the door on the first knock and ushered the still visibly confused demigods inside the apartment. In contrast to the previous neighborhood that they’d been walking through, you could see the moment the neighborhood changed. The apartment buildings were in much better shape and there wasn’t an abandoned or crumbling building in sight. 

“Percy! It’s wonderful to see you again.” Sally exclaimed and Paul greeted the rest of the group in living space and urged them to take seats wherever. Sally looked at her son after pulling away from the hug and noticed his outfit. She sighed. 

“Why don’t you go change real quick. Maybe take a quick rinse to get all traces off of you.” She knew based solely on what Percy was wearing where they’d been. She hadn’t told Paul much about their past life with Gabe but Percy could never hide everything that had happened while she was away at work, no matter how hard he’d tried. Paul only knew that they’d lived in a seedy place and that her former husband was a very mean and disgusting man. 

Sally ushered Percy off into the hallway and went back to the group who were split into two. There were the few who talked to Paul about their lives as demigods and the different things that they were planning on doing. The others had gathered closer to the back of the living area near the kitchen where they were talking in hushed tones. When Sally went into the kitchen to make sure that all of the food was ready to go and began taking it to the table, she could hear the conversation being held in the back of the room. 

“Why the hell would he ever agree to do that?”

“Did it really look like he had a choice?”

“What’d he mean about Sally’s former husband?”

“Why would he take us that way if he knew what was going to happen?”

“Do you think that Percy liked-“

Sally stopped on her walk back to the table. She sighed and stood near the group who stopped talking when they realized that she’d heard them over the din that was the TV and the other group talking to Paul. 

“What Percy did to survive isn’t any of your business until he decides to share it with you. Don’t speculate on what you don’t understand okay?” She told them softly but sternly. She waited for confirmation that they’d all heard her before addressing the entire room after seeing Percy had arrived back into the living area and was watching from the hallway entrance the entire room. Sally and Percy made brief eye-contact. 

“Who’s ready for dinner?” Sally called over the noise of the room. She smiled when she saw the demigods practically salivating at the sight of all the food available on the table.

After Sally’s interruption the night went swimmingly for the group. There wasn’t a single mention of the earlier incidents until after Sally and Paul had been pushed out of the kitchen for cleaning. Percy was doing dishes, small whirlpools visibly taking away the stubborn stains from the dishes. The group was chattering away until Leo, who was drying the dishes Percy cleaned, commented to Percy, “You know we’re here for you if you ever need something, right?” Leo asks quietly, showing a serious side that most of the demigods rarely if ever saw. 

Percy glances over at Leo and gives a small smile. “Yeah, I know.” Percy went back to washing but it seemed as though the rest of the demigods were just waiting for Percy to continue. Percy glanced around the room. There was silence besides the slight sloshing of water for a bit before Percy sighed. 

“After I was born, mom married a man name Gabe Ugliano in an effort to keep me safe as she knew that I was a son of Poseidon. He reeked so bad that my scent was masked to the monsters.” Percy paused, seemingly gaining his bearings as Jason looked on confused and Annabeth and Thalia shared an almost heartbroken look. 

“He drank all day and played poker all night. I had to find a way of funding these poker nights or get punished so I went out on the streets during the time I wasn’t at school and found odd jobs to work.” Percy grimaced and continued. 

“As you saw there wasn’t a lot of things I’d be able to do in the neighborhood that people would pay me for. One night I left the house to avoid more harassment from Gabe and his” Percy sneered “buddies. Big D found me looking for some food and struggling to keep myself up.” Percy gave a coldish laugh. “He grabbed me and put me in his car and took me to his warehouse. Had some of his buddies patch me up and feed me something.” Percy handed off another plate to Leo and went back to washing, intent on looking at the dishes and not his friends around him. “Everyone in the neighborhood knows who Big D is. Well, this was before he was like head of everything in the neighborhood but I still knew who he was. I wasn’t all that surprised when he told me that I owed him one.” Percy’s mouth turned up at the corners a bit. “But I jumped at the opportunity to make some cash when he offered me a job. I didn’t care what it was that I was doing but if this man was going to help me out then I wasn’t going to say no.”

Percy paused and Nico took the opportunity to put in a question. “How old were you?” 

Percy looked over at Nico who was sitting on the counter, not gazing at Percy with any pity, just curiosity. “Six. I was in first grade but had just been kicked out again making it so I was home all day and in between schools. Didn’t have much else of a choice. Mom was working two jobs and was only home for a few hours, long enough to sleep. I don’t blame her one bit. She was keeping us afloat.

“I became a runner for Big D after a year or so. He had to teach me the ropes first and he had me on street duty and distractions before that. There was a color system and I had all these things that I had to find out about the people, just in case one of them tried to rat us to the cops but I was good. Big D paid well and I was fairing better with Gabe because of it, not that I was home all that often.”

“What do you mean ‘fairing better’?” Clarisse practically snarled. Percy looked up a bit surprised and hesitated. 

“He means that he wasn’t getting beaten to a pulp by the bastard on the daily.” Sally said softly from the doorway to the kitchen. Her eyes were cold as steel and Paul stood nearby shocked at what was being shared. 

Percy saw Clarisse about to snap at Sally but cut her off before she could even start. “Sally didn’t know all of it. She didn’t find everything out until after we got rid of Gabe. She actually was the one to do it.” Percy smirked and it was mirrored on Sally’s face. Percy turned to Annabeth. “Remember Medusa?” 

Annabeth looked at Percy in shock for a moment before breaking into peals of laughter. The others looked confused so Annabeth elaborated. “Percy cut off medusa’s head a few years back and sent it off to Olympus. If I’m interpreting this correctly Poseidon sent the head back to Percy via his apartment and Percy gave it to Sally.” 

Percy nodded in confirmation. “She had to take out the trash after all.” This caused the rest of the demigods to laugh quite a bit as well. 

Jason spoke up after the laughter fell off. “Perce, what did he mean by ‘former customer’? You weren’t actually-“ Jason cut himself off as though he was afraid to finish his sentence.

Silence filled the room, suffocating the inhabitants of the apartment until Percy, who’d gone back to scrubbing dishes, finally answered.

“He meant exactly what he said Jason.” Percy sounded tired and Sally could be seen hugging Paul. Both had tears in their eyes. “You don’t think that I was just a runner do you? They had me hooked before I was eight in order to help keep me with the group. Didn’t want me to stop needing them as much as they needed me.” Percy ran a hand through his hair. “It wasn’t much as they didn’t want to kill me and I wasn’t exactly a healthy weight but it had me coming back anytime I may have had doubts.” Percy sighed. “I detoxed when I went to boarding school and relapsed after coming back before Sally got rid of Gabe. I quit for sure after that. We moved and I was at camp. It’s over now.” Leo gave Percy an encouraging smile and Percy knew he’d have to talk to Leo later. 

It was quiet in the apartment after that. No one seemed to want to push Percy for any more details and Sally wasn’t sharing either. The group settled into a groove. They finished cleaning up the apartment and then there was a tournament on the tv for who would win in Mario Kart. Frank came out of nowhere to sweep that win. 

Soon enough it was coming on eleven o’clock and it was time for the demigods to leave. Sally pulled Percy in for a hug and Paul followed soon after. “You may not be my kid biologically but I’ll always be here for you.” He whispered to Percy before letting him go. The demigods waved before leaving, promising to do this again sometime. 

Argus was able to pick them up from outside the apartment meaning they wouldn’t have to walk back to camp. Nico grabbed Percy’s arm. “We’ll see you all back at camp!” Nico called before shadow travelling with Percy back to camp, leaving the other eleven demigods to gape at the spot they’d just been standing in before resigning themselves to the slightly less cramped van ride.

Nico let go of Percy when they reappeared in camp. “Thanks man.” Percy said once he made sure that Nico wasn’t going to disappear into another shadow. 

Nico scoffed. “I wouldn’t want to be in a cramped van if they were asking me about the lotus casino or even before that. Least I could do.” Then Nico gave Percy a look. “You might want to find somewhere to hide out if you don’t want them to find you again when they get back here though.”

Percy laughed. “Yeah well they’re not gonna get anything else outta me anyway so I might as well.” Percy waved to Nico as they parted ways, Nico towards cabin thirteen and Percy towards the lake. 

Percy sat down on the outcropping that had been made by some of the nymphs and stared into the water. It’d been a long time since he’d had to think about Big D and his posse and he wasn’t ready to face the music on his promise.


End file.
